bilk

1 of 2

verb

ˈbilk 

bilked; bilking; bilks

transitive verb

1

: to block the free development of : frustrate

fate bilks their hopes

2

a

: to cheat out of something valuable : defraud

bilking investors out of their life savings

b

: to evade payment of or to

bilks his creditors

c

: to obtain (something) by defrauding someone

The Tampa couple sent out phony sonograms and bilked money from couples wanting children, authorities say.

—Brady Dennis

3

: to slip away from

bilked her pursuers

bilker noun

bilk

2 of 2

noun

: an untrustworthy tricky individual : cheat

Did you know?

Initially, bilking wasn't considered cheating—just good strategy for cribbage players. Language historians aren't sure where bilk originated, but they have noticed that its earliest uses occur in contexts relating to the game of cribbage. Part of the scoring in cribbage involves each player adding cards from their hand to a pile of discards called the "crib." At the end of a hand, the dealer gets any points in the crib. Strategically, then, it's wisest for the dealer's opponents to discard the cards most likely to "balk," or put a check on, the dealer's score (or in other words, the ones least likely to contribute to point-making combinations). Etymologists theorize that bilk may have originated as an alteration of that card-game balk.

Synonyms

Verb

• beat
• bleed
• cheat
• chisel
• chouse
• con
• cozen
• defraud
• diddle
• do
• do in
• euchre
• fiddle
• fleece
• flimflam
• gaff
• hose [slang]
• hustle
• mulct
• nobble [British slang]
• pluck
• ream
• rip off
• rook
• screw
• shake down
• short
• shortchange
• skin
• skunk
• squeeze
• stick
• stiff
• sting
• sucker
• swindle
• thimblerig
• victimize

Noun

• bilker
• cheat
• cheater
• chiseler
• chiseller
• confidence man
• cozener
• defrauder
• dodger
• fakir
• finagler
• fraudster [chiefly British]
• hoaxer
• scammer
• scamster
• shark
• sharper
• sharpie
• sharpy
• skinner
• swindler
• tricker
• trickster

Examples of bilk in a Sentence

Verb

an investigation revealed that the garage had been bilking motorists for repairs that had never been made

Noun

people who lost money in the scheme discovered that the investment company was a fake and the “owner” just a bilk

Recent Examples on the Web

Verb

Holmes, 41, was convicted on four counts of felony criminal fraud in early 2022 for bilking investors in her now-defunct Palo Alto, California, blood-testing startup Theranos out of hundreds of millions of dollars. —Mercury News, Boston Herald, 12 Apr. 2025

In 2024, Robert Michael Rambo, 63, was indicted on a third-degree felony theft charge after allegedly bilking friends, neighbors and business associates out of tens of thousands of dollars. —Matthew Adams, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 2 Apr. 2025

Noun

And, despite its super hinky backstory, a bronze behemoth of bilk is taking shape in Everett. —Yvonne Abraham, BostonGlobe.com, 17 May 2018

Word History

Etymology

Verb and Noun

perhaps alteration of balk entry 1

First Known Use

Verb

1641, in the meaning defined at sense 3

Noun

1777, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for bilk

• ilk
• silk
• whilk
• wilk
• buttermilk

Podcast

Get Word of the Day delivered to your inbox!